Nobody Said It Was Easy
by Katie1995
Summary: Bowing his head to Effie's lips, he caught her words clearly. They were vague and damaged like her, but they were there. "I love you." And through everything the pair had endured, their love had held strong against what the world had thrown at them. R&R!


**A/N – I don't own **_**The Hunger Games **_**or the characters in any way; all rights are reserved to **_**Suzanne Collins.**_

**Nobody Said It Was Easy**

_Come up to meet you, tell you I'm sorry,__  
><em>_You don't know how lovely you are._

Haymitch pushed the peacekeeper out the way, his temper flaring as the man in white tried to restrain him back beyond the doors where Effie was. Foul words flew through the air and the man finally withdrew his feeble attempts at keeping Haymitch back.

"Keys," he said, his voice now level, as if something had calmed him somewhat.

The peacekeeper knew that by the tone of his voice, he couldn't keep Haymitch long. Patting himself down, he finally found the small key that went with room three hundred and sixty four. The small window in the door was covered by a small wooden panel, concealing day light from the cell and a view from inside the cell.

"Keys," Haymitch repeated again and the peacekeeper thrust the silver key into Haymitch's awaiting hand.

In no time at all, Haymitch had literally burst the door open. The smell hit him before the sight did. Swallowing bile, he looked around the dingy room, and there she was.

_I had to find you,__  
><em>_Tell you I need you,__  
><em>_Tell you I set you apart._

Effie was huddled in the corner of the small, claustrophobic room. Her dress was in tatters, her hair cut in uneven lengths down her back. Her back faced Haymitch and he could see the lash marks that lay upon her flesh; some were still open and oozing with pus, some were in the process of healing and some had already scarred. Her pale skin couldn't hide the red vicious scars that maimed her skin.

"Effie," Haymitch breathed, taken aback.

Walking over to the woman he once knew, Haymitch lifted her from the ground and pulled her into him. She pulled away suddenly and a yelp left her throat.

"I don't know anything," she gasped, her eyes slightly unfocussed. "Please," she begged, "No more."

Haymitch swore his heart broke right then, as Effie exclaimed her innocence if front of the crowd there to help her.

"You won't feel any more pain now, sweetheart," he whispered, his hands reaching for hers.__

_Tell me your secrets,__  
><em>_And ask me your questions,__  
><em>_Oh, let's go back to the start._

Lifting Effie off her feet, he placed the now light-as-a-feather woman into his arms, tears dripping down his cheeks. The peacekeeper that let him in stood by the entrance to the cell, his face green from the scene that was painted out before him.

"What have they done to you?" Haymitch asked, his question receiving no answer.

Effie looked into his eyes. Faint recognition flickered in her empty orbs, but it went as quickly as it came. And although Haymitch felt like breaking into a million pieces, he knew he had to stay strong for Effie.__

_Running in circles,__  
><em>_Coming up tails,__  
><em>_Heads on a science apart._

The doctor came out from the private room, meeting Haymitch in the waiting room. His nails had been bitten down to the wick as he waited and waited for news.

"How bad?" he croaked, his throat hoarse.

The doctor's grave face declared all he didn't want to acknowledge.

"Just tell me," he whispered.

The doctor looked back on the doors that swung together before answering. "She's physically broken of course," the doctor said, his voice matching his expression. "She's also mentally damaged, Mr. Abernathy. Counselling is the only thing I can think of," the doctor continued, "to try and get her back, but it's not always one hundred percent effective.

Haymitch sat wringing his hands together. "I don't care... as long as she can heal somewhat..." But the words stopped abruptly and he hung his head. He did care... he cared so much it hurt. He needed Effie back no matter what the cost was. He would do anything. _Anything.___

_Nobody said it was easy,__  
><em>_It's such a shame for us to part,__  
><em>_Nobody said it was easy,__  
><em>_No one ever said it would be this hard._

The door shut quietly behind him and Effie's eyes flickered towards the sound. A smile passed his lips, but Effie's pain, reduced thanks to the morphling, still affected him immensely. Turning a lily around in his fingers, Haymitch took in the picture before him, before going over to sit next to Effie. She was wary... her body language told him that. Going to put the lily in her hair, Effie withdrew away from him, the shame clearly shown in her eyes.

"I won't hurt you," Haymitch whispered, his voice cracking for the first time since he'd got her back.

Effie faked a smile; he knew by the way her smile didn't reach her eyes. "I know."

_Oh, take me back to the start._

And as Effie drifted in and out of sleep and nightmares, Haymitch's mind floated back to the day they both first met – outside the justice building, their differences clearly stated in both look and manner. But there was something about her, something he loved that he couldn't quite pin-point. The fact she was so orderly, so ordered and ready... unlike him. Effie, Haymitch thought, offered a stability he lacked.__

_I was just guessing,__  
><em>_At numbers and figures,__  
><em>_Pulling the puzzles apart._

Once Effie was allowed out from hospital, Haymitch tried to be as gentle as he could with her – patient and loving, but when Effie was so distant, he didn't really know why he was trying. The doctor said she would probably never be the same again.

"What did they do to you, Effie?" he cried in frustration, his hands cupping her cheeks delicately. "Please, I want to help you!" Effie placed her hands on top of his, taking his hands away from her face.

"You don't need to know," she replied, her tone implying a finality he couldn't argue with.

_One day she'll open up__, _Haymitch thought, so instead of fighting against her, Haymitch took his place next to her on the love seat and pulled the broken woman next to him into his arms.__

_Questions of science,__  
><em>_Science and progress,__  
><em>_Do not speak as loud as my heart._

But that one day seemed to become ever distant. As if it was upon the horizon before vanishing again. Effie wouldn't tell him what she had endured, why she wouldn't let him help, why the love they had seemed to have been destroyed and banished by one man who called himself the president.

In moments of silence he could hear his and her heart beating together as one, strongly and proudly. Effie believed she was weak, he could tell in the moments she relapsed and the way she punished herself for it. But those days when she would just sit with him, her head rested upon his chest and the way he could feel her heart beating against him, that she was stronger than he could ever be.__

_Tell me you love me,__  
><em>_Come back and haunt me,__  
><em>_Oh, and I rush to the start._

"I love you," Haymitch whispered into Effie's ear, another flower being tucked behind her hair and into her dirty-blonde hair.

But Effie didn't say it back. Instead she stared, her eyes still lacking the spark he grew to love before the war. Smiling, although still hurt, Haymitch stroked her cheek, kissing her left temple before lighting the small coal fire in the hearth before them. Looking back over his shoulder, Haymitch could see the synthetic spark in her eyes, the illusion created by the flames in front of them. One day, he would reignite the fire that burned once within her. He promised himself that; he promised Effie that._  
><em> 

_Running in circles,__  
><em>_Chasing our tails,__  
><em>_Coming back as we are._

The woman he once knew was still gone. It had been six weeks into counselling and he had begun to believe the doctor's words were the cold, harsh truth. No matter what he did or said, Effie still remained completely transfixed on keeping her walls up that prevented Haymitch from letting him come in. His efforts to help her were always replied with some apology, or that she was "okay," but what empty words she did say, he knew they weren't true.__

_Nobody said it was easy,__  
><em>_Oh it's such a shame for us to part,__  
><em>_Nobody said it was easy,__  
><em>_No one ever said it would be so hard._

One day, when the first dandelion appeared, Haymitch caught the sound of someone singing. It wasn't the Mockingjays warbles, but someone actually singing. Turning the corner and up the abandoned road to his house, Haymitch found Effie standing outside, her hand clutching multiple flowers creating a blur of colours as she waltzed by herself in the garden covered with creepers and tall swaying grass. She didn't have any shoes on, but who cared? Effie was... _alive_. He couldn't think what had made this break through... was it the counselling she had shown little improvement with, or was she having a moment like Katniss' mum did before her medication.

"Effie," Haymitch choked, a smile on his lips and his eyes glassy with tears. "You're back," he whispered to himself, not caring anyway if Effie had heard him. Taking the woman into his embrace, Haymitch danced the best he could with her; both were not worried about stepping on each other's now bare feet. Instead, Effie placed her head on his chest and listened to Haymitch's heart beat.

Stroking Effie's hair, the woman finally broke before him and her song became disconnected as sobs shook her fragile frame. Haymitch kept an arm around her thin waist and Effie's arms came to wrap around Haymitch's torso. Collapsing to her knees, Haymitch folded down with her to where the dandelions spotted the grass gold. "It's okay," Haymitch whispered as Effie's nails dug into his back, her strength to stay collected pushing her closer into Haymitch's body.__

_I'm going back to the start._

Cradling her, Haymitch didn't make a sound or movement; he simply sat on the grass, Effie in his muscular arms, until her body reduced to less than a tremble and her sobs became mews. Her beautiful eyes were ringed with red, and her bottom lip trembled as Haymitch pushed her away slightly so he could see her properly. Effie kept her arms locked around him as Haymitch tried to pry her away from his body.

"Don't," she announced quickly, the ferocity clear, even though her voice was unable to rise above a whisper.

Haymitch placed a soft kiss on her forehead and Effie briefly closed her eyes, her hand falling into Haymitch's hand.

"I'm listening," Haymitch whispered, sure that finally, Effie Trinket had found the love he knew was always there.

Bowing his head to Effie's lips, he caught her words clearly. They were vague and damaged like her, but they were there. "I love you."

And through everything the pair had endured, their love had held strong against what the world had thrown at them.

"I love you, too, sweetheart."

**A/N – I need to cut down on the Hayffie one-shots! I heard this song in a hotel yesterday and I just **_**needed **_**to do it. This story relates to my **_**Finding Effie**_** one-shot.**

**I really hope you liked this because I really enjoyed writing this. As usual, if you liked this Please Review!**

**Thanks, Katie1995. :)**


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